Disclaimer: I own nothing that has to do with Naruto.

Well guys be warned this isn't the best chapter I capable of writing. This is more of a filler chapter. Its more of a setup for the coming up chapters.

I stand in my office splashing water on my pale tired looking face, for the third time today. I know I looked awful, even the powder foundation no longer covered my tiredness.

It's been one week, six days, eight hours, thirty-two minutes, and twelve seconds since I lost my dreams. My idea of love had been crushed, and the one I love, and gave my all too threw my love back in my face.

It's been six days since I gave into my anger, and pain, and ran the edge of a kunai across my own jugular for the first time. I was too much of a coward to press down and let the liquid that prolongs my pain to leave my veins.

That's me a coward. It is maybe the reason he chose her, because for the life of me I cannot understand his reasoning for loving her. Was it not me who helped pick up the pieces of his shattered life? Was it not me who continued to love him, even after he abandoned me for the first time? And even at the end of all things was I not there standing at his side as he came face to face with his past, shortening the years of my life, while Ino was nowhere to be found.

Yet she reaped the benefits of my efforts. 'Cruel how fate works that way,' I thought bitterly.

The village was starting to slowly accept the duo, once they seen how happy they were. While people still walk around me on pins and needles, and still gave me their sympathy. I found no comfort in their sympathy, nor their prayers for me.

I can't even find comfort in the bottom of a bottle, seeing as my body can stave off any drink I consume. My body is so good; I performed a grueling surgery after consuming several drinks. The surgery was flawless, and my attending nurses didn't have a clue.

I sometimes wonder why I prolong people's lives, when in the end they'll die anyway. Why do I save them when they'll only experience pain later? Why should I help them?

"Why, Indeed?" I asked myself.

Ino stood outside Sakura's office, with her brows contorted in thought. She was thinking about what to say to Sakura, without getting the devil knocked out of her.

Sasuke told her to stay away for a while until she calmed down, but Sasuke was a guy. He didn't fully understand women, as they understood each other. A woman's pain runs deep. So it didn't matter when, or if she'd calm down, it was matter when she could let go, of her love for him.

Hesitantly she knocked on the door. She heard Sakura from inside relaying her conference hours.

"Yeah I know," Ino replied sticking her head in the door.

Sakura stopped writing on her patient's chart, and gripped her pen tightly.

"Get out."

The cold voice freighted Ino, but she couldn't wait another day to try to clear the air.

"No, Sakura listen we need to talk."

Sakura snorted. "Your actions spoke loud, and were un-doubtfully clear." Finally meeting Ino's eyes, she felt a murderous intent bubbling up inside her.

"Please leave, before I do something only you're going to regret."

"Listen I know you're angry," Ino tried to explain, but Sakura scoffed at her.

"No, you see angry is when I lose a patient on my watch. Angry is when I lose a friends in combat and if that's anger, I don't know what to call what I feel now, but it sure as hell isn't anger."

Ino looked at the storm that came to life in Sakura's usually warm eyes, and one wrong move could set her off.

"Sakura let's talk about this. We can't let this stand in way of us being best friends again." Ino watched as Sakura shook her head.

"Friends!" she exclaimed. "With friends like you who needs an enemy…friend," she emphasized on friend. "No Ino we're not friends, I suppose we never were. You see when you're friends with someone you don't stab them in the back, and then twist it for good measure. They don't lie to cover their own ass. Oh and they certainly don't marry the object of their best friend affections."

Ino looked guilty. "It just happened," she blurted out before thinking.

Being faster than Ino's eyes Sakura appeared before Ino slamming her into the wall with her forearm thrust in her windpipe.

"How about I kill you, and tell everyone it just happened as my excuse," she hissed violently in the other woman's face.

Sakura's door was pushed open revealing a frightened nurse, and one of the many ANBU captains.

The nurse had seen Ino go into Sakura's office and panicked. She didn't know if she should call the ANBU squad or call the morgue. Yet the solution to her problem walked through the door. She grabbed his arm much to the charging of the elite shinobi. She dragged him to the door just in time to hear the crash and Sakura's threat.

Opening the door, he stared into Sakura's raging green orbs.

"Medic Haruno," a liquid steel baritone voice greeted her.

She released Ino and walked back around her desk. "Will you please give us a few seconds and then we'll be finished." The captain nodded but stayed near the door.

"From here on out this is how it's going to be. If you see me walking down the hall I suggest you go the other way. When you see me walking down the street you had better cross that street."

At the moment, Sakura willed herself not to cry. "Whatever we were, because it painfully obvious to me now, that we weren't friends. I don't know what we were, but I guess it really doesn't matter now does it. You got what you wanted."

Ino teary apologetic eyes, could hear finality in Sakura words, but she refused to accept defeat in losing Sakura. She also knew Sasuke couldn't either.

Ino sighed, "I'll back off for now, but I refuse to let this go."

"You know the way out," Sakura snapped.

Ino finally left leaving Sakura's to calm her thoughts before her door open again. She gestured for the captain to come in.

He stayed silent as he took off his ANBU mask off revealing mist colored eyes, and long silk coffee brown hair.

"Captain Hyuga I could the smell blood from the hall," she said breaking the ice. "So what is it this time?"

Neji stayed silent, removed his chest plating, and spandex shirt revealing his muscled but sleek physique. Like most, ANBU ops, he didn't like the prodding and probing of medics. Most of them preferred Shuizune, or Sakura. He lately preferred Sakura's touch.

He lay on the examining table waiting for Sakura's scolding he knew was coming, by the way her eye twitched.

'Those beautiful eyes even if they lost a bit if not all of their shine,' he thought.

"Neji can I ask why you're in here again with the same injury you had not even three months ago. It's also parallel to the one you bought in here two weeks ago."

"New jutsu," he answered stiffly.

"Well your new jutsu clearly isn't working."

"It works fine," he bit out after hearing her voice dripping with sarcasm. "If you would recall each time the wound has been cut shallower each time, which means I'm getting faster."

"Which means to me you were lucky not to have been killed the first time, in my book."

"But I didn't ask you?"

"Apparently you did when you come in here, with as many injuries as you have had in the last few months."

Before he could retort Tsunade smashed opened her office door. Her nostrils flared and eyes narrowed. Rage was radiating off her in waves. This was one of the many times one should avoid the woman.

"Sakura will you excuse us." Sakura nodded and excused herself into the hall quickly, not wanting to be in the path of Hurricane Tsunade.

She strolled up to Neji and slapped a slip of paper on his sore chest.

"I told you to play by the rules, now you're suspended."

Neji made no reaction to his suspension; he had rather knew it was coming. Breaking rank was a serious offense.

Tsunade was furious with his uncaring attitude, she had hoped the suspension, would get him back in focus. This would be the seventh time in three months he showed insubordination. Although the missions were successful, there are rules and those rules keep the team alive. Neji was her best next to Naruto and Sasuke among the young generation.

Naruto was already training with her to become Hokage in a few years which left Sasuke and Neji up for the position of 1st captain, in the future. She had a sneaky suspicion that was what it was all about.

"Neji I'm disappointed in you. Up until a few months ago you've had a flawless service record. You've been an upstanding combatant and leader, but you cannot go and break rank and do what you want, especially when you're not the one in command. You are to follow your commanding officers orders to a tee."

"Even if his order will lead to a bloodbath?" he asked. "No thanks," he said challenging the woman's authority.

"Look you're the one under my authority, and I don't know whatever male machismo is going on between you and Sasuke but I want it dropped."

"Not likely," he replied seriously.

"Sasuke is skilled fighter and strategist, trained by one of the world's best-

"Oh yes the sociopath fairy, he went chasing after." He drawled. "You don't think storing him in the back of his mind didn't change him."

Tsunade opened her mouth and closed it pursing her red colored lips together. "Look, you just follow orders."

"Oh no; we mustn't question your old and wise knowledge of Naruto and Sasuke." He watched as her eyes widened as he gave an all knowing smirk. "Did I offend you, or made it a point to call you on your favoritism."

She backed away not trusting not herself in close proximity of the one few men who dared challenge her.

"You're hereby suspended indefinitely. You're also stripped of your rank, and from now on you'll be assigned to the Uchiha squad."

Turning on her heel, she found his spandex shirt and ripped his captain insignia off.

She gave him the same all-knowing smirk. "Have fun taking his orders."

Once she left the room her smirk turned to anger. Even if she got the last word, she didn't know how she was going to explain this to the elders. Her shinobi were already spread too thin. Yet they are lucky I didn't bust his rear back to genin, she thought eyeing the insignia in her right hand.

Sakura finished up with Neji, and now was walking down the hall to leave. She suspected he'd be difficult, to deal with after Tsunade's demotion, but he continuously smirked. A completely different reaction then she expected. If it was any of the other rookies, they'll have a fit with the exception of Hinaita and Shikamaru. She shook her head wondering what Neji was up too.

Continuing on her way she heard voices in the lounge area for the staff.

"I still can't believe he chose her over Sakura," she heard one nurse say.

Another nurse who Sakura knew hated her Mei chimed in next. "I can," she exclaimed. "You see Sasuke only wants the best and most powerful. Ino has to be stronger than her."

"No way," the first nurse replied.

"That's only explanation, and soon Ino will be running this hospital," Mei said. "And Sakura will be a memory."

Sakura smirked 'Ino stronger than her,' she thought. Yet there was another voice seconding Mei, one of the higher up medics.

"Takashi, Akuasun, and Lin were wondering about that the other day. We wondered if Ino was better when it came to medicine. We concluded that she is, and that's why we are promoting her as a lead medic."

"That's the same rank as Sakura," The first nurse said. "Don't you think you're rushing your decision?"

"Oh you're young you have so much to learn," Mei said.

Sakura fumed quietly, as her inside were breaking all over again. 'Head Medic' she thought. 'She took Sasuke now, she's ranked the same level I am.'

Treading back to her office she took a box and started packing her belongings, once done she took all the charts of her patients and slid them into other medics' boxes who she thought suitable for the job. All confidential charts went too Shizune.

'They want Ino they got her.'

She walked form the hospital knowing what chaos would befall them in a few days. It felt good knowing she was causing others pains; after all misery always loves company.

Walking home, she noticed there weren't many people about, but the ones that were gave her strange looks. Did she have something on her face? Is my dress tucked into my underwear? After making sure that wasn't the case, she decided she needed a drink.

Walking into a bar favorite among shinobi, she got quite a few horrified stares. She wondered what the fuss was about, settled at the sidebar, and ordered. The bar got deafly quiet.

She turned to look at the patrons. She saw all eyes were shifting towards her, while others murmured. The bar tender settled the drink in front of her.

'Did I intrude on a private party,' I thought to myself.

One lone occupant of the bar now knew that the young woman didn't know what was going on. Kakashi sighed. Oh all the rotten luck in the world, he believed Sakura had the worst. He began to move toward her, this would only hurt her more than she already was.

Sakura scanned the crowd through the corners of her eyes. She spotted a shame-faced looking Naruto, and almost all the Konoha 11. It looked like a celebration of some sort, she wondered if she forgot a birthday.

She looked for a sign, and she gasped quietly. She looked back down at her drink. How did her day go too bad to this humiliation? She bit her lip drawing blood tasting the bitter copper, as she saw Ino wrapped snugly in Sasuke's arms.

'This was Ino and Sasuke's engagement party.'

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